RETURN TO INNOCENCE – A STUDY OF JACK LONDON’S THE CALL OF THE WILD

Abstract

Jack London's Call of the Wild is a novel that revolves around Buck, a well built dog who lives a comfortable and relaxed life in California. The transformation from a well trained house dog to a wild dog again is the journey that London impresses his readers with. The novel has a psychological strain where Jung's collective conscious plays a role to show how innate qualities of a species lies hidden for many generations to express itself when the need to survive arises. Jack London draws his young readers to empathize with his animals and feel the anguish of separation and loneliness. Adolescence is a challenge for everyone concerned. Parents teachers and teenagers themselves are in the dark about how to deal with emotional upheavals. Torn between childhood and adulthood, it is a stage of confusion and learning. London's novel portrays this struggle and expression in animals with whom the readers can readily relate to. This seminar paper intends to bring out the emotional turmoil and coming of age ideas that Jack London portrays in his novels which have a psychological bearing on his young readers.